Kinematic analysis of tandem gait on a sine wave walkway.
Shingo Kawakami, Hiroyuki Fujisawa, Yoshiyuki Tomizawa and 1 others
PMID 27799663WHAT IT FOUND
Walking a narrow sine-wave line made healthy adults turn the knee opposite to the hip during direction changes.
The study only measured movement in young healthy people and did not test treatment or patients.
Key findings
01The trunk, hip, and knee rotation angle ranges were 23.3°, 53.3°, and 47.3°.
02When turning left with the left leg as pivot, the hip rotated inward and the knee rotated outward; when turning right with the left leg as pivot, the hip rotated outward and the knee rotated inward.
03The order of angle changes varied among subjects, but the relationship between the angle changes was common to all subjects.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The study included only 18 healthy adults, age 21.9 ± 2.7 years, so it does not show what older adults or people with balance, neurological, orthopedic, visual, or vestibular problems do. All participants had the left leg as the pivot leg, so the pattern was not examined for a right-leg pivot. The analysis used one cycle of a short 2.0 m sine-wave walkway, so it may not represent longer walking or ordinary direction changes. No treatment was tested and no patient outcome was measured, so the results are movement descriptions, not evidence of effectiveness. There is no agreed-upon measurement method or reference range for knee rotation.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that knee rotation training will improve walking or balance. This study only measured healthy young adults walking a narrow curved line and did not test a treatment or people with balance problems.